Chinese food culture has been enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the UK, with more chefs keen to explore bolder dishes than ever before. This culture shift has also seen a rise in the demand for Chinese kitchen knives, which are fast-becoming a popular accessory thanks to their versatility and sturdy craftsmanship.
Chef and entrepreneur Sean Warmington-Wan is one of the pioneers of this new-wave explosion, having just launched his brand, Fragrant Knives. The Kickstarter-backed project unveiled its signature Chinese Chefs’ Knife earlier this month to rave reviews.
As a self-confessed kitchen knife nerd, Sean’s passion for his craft is evident. With 15 years of cheffing under his belt, he’s worked in kitchens in both London and Hong Kong, earning his stripes under the guidance of Elizabeth Haigh at Mei Mei in Borough Market.
The knife itself is indeed a thing of beauty. Designed in Hong Kong and crafted in Yangjiang, the historic capital of Chinese blade-making, this utensil combines a high-carbon stainless steel blade with an ornate rosewood handle. Perfect for everyday use with meat and veg, it’s great for chopping, slicing, filleting and mincing.
We caught up with Sean, who told us more about the inspiration behind Fragrant Knives. He also dispelled some common myths and misconceptions associated with exotic kitchen knives, and gave us some insider tips on where to find London’s best Chinese food.
There’s more curiosity surrounding Chinese food culture these days – what do you think is driving this trend?
Down in London, we’ve had some regional Chinese food since the 90’s. It was a pretty London-centric thing for a while, but across the UK, it’s really blown up in the last few years. This might be a slightly biased take, being that I’m from Hong Kong, but I feel this is partially due to recent migration.
There have been around 600k Hong Kong Chinese arriving in the UK over the past two years, and I guess our effect is being felt. There’s always been generalised British-Chinese cuisine around since the 60’s, but this new wave has brought Hong Kong Chinese cuisine to attention.
Also, there’s been a lot more migration in the past 15-20 years from the rest of China and they’re bringing their cuisines with them.
Lastly, there’s been the influence of Chinese students. 20 years ago, the Chinese student population in the UK was miniscule, whereas now we’re probably in the tens of thousands. Those students love their cuisine and know it really well. They miss the food and want to eat it. So, there’s the demand side as well as supply.
What was the inspiration behind Fragrant Knives, and what can you tell us about the design process?
I have worked as a chef in both the UK and Hong Kong over the past 5 years. I was trained over here, and when you work in a cool restaurant in the UK with a bunch of young people, you’ll generally end up getting a set of Japanese knives – it’s kind of the done thing.
You get your own set and look after them. Whereas 20 years ago that would have been French or German knives, now it’s Japanese. So, I did that – got some really beautiful knives and really loved them. A lot of my friends were also recommending them through consumer publications, also to use at home.
Then I moved back to Hong Kong and was gifted this Chinese chef’s knife by my grandmother, which was probably around 30 years old. I sharpened it up and took it to work along with all my fancy Japanese knives and ended up using it more and more, and at home too.
The faff of looking after the Japanese knives, drying them off after every use, and that kind of thing, meant I would pick them up less and less. The Chinese knife was stainless steel, and you don’t have to worry about it at all.
It was a lot more low-maintenance and I could tell it was built like a tank – it had lasted 30-plus years in my grandmother’s kitchen. I thought to myself, this thing is actually much better for the average home cook than a £200 Japanese knife.
If you have a fancy Japanese knife and you’re living in a flat share, and your flatmates are all using the same kitchen, you’re constantly stressed about this thing – having to dry it off, sometimes oiling it.
This Chinese knife is all-purpose, built to be a lot stronger and suits the needs of the modern home cook. I looked around and there were some Chinese brands selling these knives in Hong Kong, but I noticed the quality has dropped since the golden age of the 90’s.
So, I thought I could either buy a bunch of these and sell them in the UK like a wheeler dealer, or design something which goes even further and is better suited to the Western home cook.
What would you say to the average home cook who might be apprehensive about using a Chinese knife – what can you use it for day to day?
Firstly, I reckon the reason you see them so much on TV is because they look dramatic. And they always get these shots of someone chopping with one at a million miles an hour – often with incorrect technique, just for the drama and the flair of it. You don’t need to use a knife like that, they’ve been exoticised. It’s a knife, and you can use it as slowly as you want.
I also think Chinese chef’s knives are safer than Western chef’s knives. The reason being, is the blade is so tall that you can always have contact with your knuckles and the blade, rather than the edge. So you can always have your knuckles guiding where that knife is going. As long as your fingertips are tucked under your knuckles, it’s not possible to cut yourself like that, as opposed to a narrow, thin knife.
You can just put the knife against your knuckles and guide it and rock it. There’s also so much you can learn from YouTube. We’re going to look at doing some more educational videos too when we get into a studio. They’re really incredible tools and really simple to use. You just gotta take your time when you start.
Have you got any more products in the pipeline?
This is as close to an all-purpose knife as you can get. I think it’s pretty much the only knife you’re gonna need in your kitchen, aside from bone cleaving. The thing is about this knife, it looks like a western cleaver, but it’s not. It’s not designed to go through bones. It’s designed to cut through boneless food and occasionally some very small bones.
People have asked us to do a bone cleaver, to chop through duck bones – I don’t know how often people are actually cutting through duck bones in the west! Maybe less than once a year, cutting through chicken bones.
If we got a lot of requests then maybe we’d do one – as a massive knife nerd I’d love to design and make one. So, making a slightly smaller version of the knife and one with a stainless steel handle – but at the moment I’m focussing on this one knife.
What would be your go-to authentic Chinese dish to impress someone who is only familiar with westernised Chinese food?
First of all, I’m never quite sure what it means when the word authentic is used. Authentic to what…in China or how Chinese food is eaten in the UK? I’ll choose to answer this as to how food is eaten in China.
The best thing you can do is go to a Cantonese restaurant and order a really fresh fish, usually sea bass, steamed with spring onion and ginger and have it on rice.
That is what people eat every single day in southern China – steamed fish on rice. It’s not that kind of stir-fried noodles which I love, not that really bold, sweet and sour flavour.
Really try to focus on how you’re not trying to make the skin crispy, not trying to make it taste like bacon or putting a bold flavour on there. You’re letting the flavour of the fish come out and having it with some soy sauce and rice.
That’s kind of the essence of Cantonese cuisine. Yeah, it’s actually quite different if you’re not used to it. Steamed fish with slightly gelatinous skin. But, if it’s a good fresh fish and with soy sauce and ginger, I think that’s the easiest window into this world of different textures.
The other one would be Chinese chicken and rice – poached chicken in chicken stock, with ginger and garlic and served boneless and cold with some sauces and dips. This is very much like what the essence of Chinese food is.
It’s kind of the opposite with Cantonese cooking to what you do in the UK- we steam the fish or meat and stir fry the veg!
What’s your favourite underrated hidden gem restaurant in London?
I really like home-style Cantonese or Southern Chinese food. I love Zao An, which means morning or breakfast in Chinese – it’s Mandarin not Cantonese so I’m not 100% sure. That was previously a cafe at Hackney Chinese community centre, but now it’s moved to Loom Club in London – and they do Congi and other Chinese breakfast foods.
It’s quite affordable and really delicious food. It’s probably only been open for a few weeks. The other one is Di Lara in Finsbury Park, which is a restaurant, from an ethnic group spread between Xingzang in the western part of China and in central Asia as well.
They’ve undergone some serious repression by the Chinese state over the years, and their food is very spicy, delicious noodles. They’re Muslim, so there’s a lot of lamb and obviously no pork.
That’s a really special restaurant. I’ve been going there for a long time. You need to try their Da Pa Gee, or big plate chicken. It’s like a chicken stew on a huge bed of noodles. It was about £25 last time I went, but you can share it between 3 or 4 people.
Sean’s Chinese Kitchen Knife is available now from Fragrant Knives for £88.
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